Draft law might have to change now that women can fight

Associated Press

Updated 11:02 pm, Monday, February 25, 2013

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration's decision to lift the ban on women in combat opens the door for a change in the law that compels only men 18-25 to register for a military draft, according to legal experts and military historians.

Never before has the country drafted women into military service, and neither the administration nor Congress is in a hurry to make them register for a future call-up.

But, legally, they may have no other choice.

Now that front-line infantry, armor, artillery and special operations jobs are open to female volunteers who can meet the physical requirements, it will be difficult for anyone to make a persuasive argument that women should continue to be exempt from registration, said Diane Mazur, a law professor at the University of Florida and a former Air Force officer.

“They're going to have to show that excluding women from the draft actually improves military readiness,” Mazur said. “I just don't see how you can make that argument.”

News Channel

Groups that backed the end of the ban on women in combat also support including women in draft registration as a matter of basic citizenship.

Women should have the same civic obligations as men, said Greg Jacob, a former Marine Corps officer and policy director for the Service Women's Action Network. “We see registration as another step forward in terms of equality and fairness,” Jacob said.

Rep. Howard “Buck” McKeon, R-Calif., who heads the House Armed Services Committee, hasn't made up his mind. McKeon said through a spokesman that he's awaiting a Defense Department report due in the coming weeks that will assess the legal impact of lifting the ban on women in combat on draft registration.

“The Department (of Defense) is currently undergoing a lengthy and thoughtful process to provide guidance on the details of the new policy lifting the direct ground combat exclusion rule for the 200,000-plus women who bravely serve our nation in the military,” he said. “I look forward to studying those results to understand if any additional policy changes need to be made.”

A poll by Quinnipiac University found that American voters firmly oppose a return to conscription. Also, adding women to the mix doesn't appear to be a high priority for a battle-weary nation nearing the end of more than a decade of war.

The U.S. military has been an all-volunteer force for the past 40 years and women have become an integral part of it. Nearly 15 percent of the 1.4 million troops on active duty are female. Americans support allowing female volunteers to serve in ground combat roles by a 75-25 margin, according to the Quinnipiac poll. But the survey of 1,772 registered voters found them conflicted over mandated military service for women.

Not every woman can handle a close combat job, she said, and neither can every man.

But they can contribute in other ways if a crisis demands their service, said Hegar, who received a Purple Heart for wounds she suffered when her Medevac helicopter was shot at during a mission near Kandahar, Afghanistan.